Cardinals host the Reds to begin 3-game series

Cincinnati Reds (47-54, fifth in the NL Central) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (52-50, fourth in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Friday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Rhett Lowder (3-7, 5.75 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 61 strikeouts); Cardinals: Dustin May (5-7, 4.78 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 95 strikeouts)

LINE: Cardinals -169, Reds +138; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals host the Cincinnati Reds to open a three-game series.

St. Louis has gone 26-27 in home games and 52-50 overall. The Cardinals have the eighth-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .317.

Cincinnati has a 47-54 record overall and a 25-26 record in road games. The Reds have hit 134 total home runs to rank fourth in the NL.

The teams play Friday for the sixth time this season. The Cardinals are ahead 4-1 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Walker has 22 doubles and 22 home runs for the Cardinals. Alec Burleson is 13 for 39 with three doubles over the past 10 games.

JJ Bleday has 11 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs and 44 RBIs for the Reds. Eugenio Suarez is 8 for 37 with a double and four home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 4-6, .214 batting average, 3.92 ERA, outscored by seven runs

Reds: 5-5, .244 batting average, 4.50 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Pedro Pages: day-to-day (illness), JoJo Romero: 15-Day IL (appendix), Max Rajcic: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ramon Urias: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Reds: Blake Dunn: 10-Day IL (elbow), Nick Lodolo: 15-Day IL (finger), Matt McLain: 10-Day IL (calf), Brandon Williamson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tony Santillan: 15-Day IL (oblique), Graham Ashcraft: 60-Day IL (forearm)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.